Termination with extreme prejudiceBritain deploys specialist troops in city where ex-Russian spy collapsed

Published 9 March 2018

Britain has deployed specialist troops to remove potentially contaminated objects from the site where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious after a suspected nerve-agent attack. Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital since they were found on a bench outside a shopping center in the southern English city of Salisbury on 4 March.

Britain has deployed specialist troops to remove potentially contaminated objects from the site where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious after a suspected nerve-agent attack.

Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital since they were found on a bench outside a shopping center in the southern English city of Salisbury on 4 March.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who visited the city on 9 March, including the area around the bench, said they were both still in very serious condition.

Britain’s Defense Ministry and the police said some 180 troops, including some chemical experts, had been sent to Salisbury to remove ambulances and other vehicles involved in the incident as well as other objects.

Counterterrorism police, who are leading the investigation, said in a March 9 statement, “The public should not be alarmed,” adding that “military assistance will continue as necessary during this investigation.”

Britain has said it will respond appropriately if evidence shows Moscow was behind the incident, which police are treating as attempted murder. Moscow has denied involvement and asserted that anti-Russian hysteria is being whipped up by the British media.

British authorities say they have identified the substance as a rare nerve agent, which experts say should help identify the source, but they have not named it publicly.

Experts say the fact that officials have identified it as a rare nerve agent means it was probably not sarin or VX, which are relatively common.

Nerve agents are highly toxic chemicals that disrupt the nervous system and shut down bodily functions.

Both Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain unconscious, in critical but stable condition, while police officer Nick Bailey, who responded to the incident and was also harmed by the substance, remains in serious condition but is now able to speak.

Police said a total of 21 people had been treated in hospital following the incident, but only Skripal, his daughter, and Bailey remain hospitalized. Officials did not immediately explain how the others might have been exposed to the substance.